Crunch, crunch.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
The door of a pavilion visible in the distance opened, and a woman dressed in white emerged.
It was Gakyung, the Pavilion Leader of Sohwa, who had just delivered the speech at the banquet hall.
‘Her?’
Just as a sharp glint flashed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes upon sensing something strange, Gakyung nodded quietly toward the warriors carrying large wooden vats. At her signal, the warriors carrying the vats swarmed into the pavilion and soon emerged again.
Lurch.
Unlike before, the weight of the vats seemed to have changed, as the warriors’ gait became somewhat heavy and dull.
— It was certain that they had placed the men sleeping inside into those vats.
In the meantime, Gakyung moved her feet again and headed toward another pavilion. For a while, she moved back and forth between the pavilions where the invited youths were sleeping, repeatedly nodding to the warriors carrying the vats.
Then, Gakyung suddenly looked toward the innermost pavilion, which boasted a fine view. Soon, she began moving toward it with quick steps.
That place was none other than the pavilion assigned to Bu Eunseol.
‘Oh no.’
Bu Eunseol, who had been observing the situation, launched his body forward in a single leap. Even in the midst of that, he stopped by another pavilion and quickly tucked a set of martial robes worn by the warriors in the Valley of Immortals into his chest.
Having finally returned to his quarters, he lay on the bed and pretended to be fast asleep.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of soft footsteps approached. Soon, Gakyung entered and walked up to the bed where Bu Eunseol was feigning sleep. Without hesitation, she pulled out a long needle and pricked it into Bu Eunseol’s middle finger.
Drip.
As a single drop of blood gathered at the tip of the long needle, she extended her tongue without hesitation and licked it.
At that moment, her pupils became triangular like those of a cat, and a silver-white radiance flowed from them. After closing her eyes for a long while to savor the taste, she nodded.
“To think he mastered the fake Glacial Energy up to the fourth stage… Indeed.”
She let out an exclamation of admiration and then exited the pavilion. Soon, accompanied by a rumbling sound, the warriors carrying the large vats approached. One of them began busily trying to strip Bu Eunseol of his clothes.
‘So I just need to be inside the vat.’
Whoosh.
Using a finger technique of windless and soundless force, Bu Eunseol struck the warriors’ Baihui points with great power. Immediately, their bodies froze like stone statues, and they stood with their eyes dazed and mouths agape.
In that interval, Bu Eunseol took off his own clothes and scattered them on the bed. After donning the Valley of Immortals martial robes he had taken from the other pavilion earlier, he climbed into the vat.
Psh!
He then fired a finger pressure shot to strike their Baihui points once more.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
The warriors, who had been wearing vacant expressions, rubbed their eyes wide as if waking from a dream. Feeling the weight of the vat and seeing the discarded martial robes in the room, they shook their heads.
“Did we put him in?”
“It seems so.”
“I guess we’re really tired.”
“Indeed. Let’s move quickly.”
Without any particular suspicion, the warriors shouldered the vats and left the pavilion.
Tap, tap, tap.
Once outside, the warriors began to move using rapid movement techniques. Judging by the direction and speed, it seemed they were heading deep into the heart of Valley of Immortals for quite some time.
Clatter. Creak.
The sound of them stopping and entering through an iron door could be heard, followed immediately by the sensation of descending endlessly downward.
‘Is it a basement again?’
Internally, a hollow laugh burst out.
‘It seems my destiny is written to do nothing but search for underground secret chambers.’
Secret and hidden places were usually located deep underground. Having wandered the martial world and explored various hidden locations across the land, Bu Eunseol had, before he knew it, become weary and overly accustomed to detecting and exploring underground secret caves.
Thump.
When the vat was finally set down, the presence of the warriors receding elsewhere could be heard.
‘This makes no sense.’
Thanks to the large vibration that spread when the vat was placed down, his Void Heart Command was activated. Because of this, Bu Eunseol could clearly sense the internal space where the vat was currently situated.
‘Are they really planning to steam people?’
This internal space was a kitchen where large vats were lined up in a row, with fire pits located underneath—a place capable of steaming dozens of people at once.
‘It’s likely not simply to consume human flesh.’
The fact that they had fed them spiritual medicine certainly raised suspicions of cannibalism.
However, if that were the case, they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of using the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars as bait to select and bring in the successors or descendants of mysterious sects.
There had to be a specific reason why they were putting these youths to sleep so covertly and boiling them in steamers.
Furthermore, inside this kitchen, four warriors stood waiting while holding sharp weapons like awls. They were waiting solemnly in front of the fire pits.
‘They are watching to prepare for unexpected situations, such as someone inside the steamer waking up.’
Having grasped the situation, Bu Eunseol pondered for a moment.
‘If I stay still like this, I’ll be able to find out what they are plotting.’
Sizzle.
In the meantime, the inside of the steamer became filled with sweltering heat. However, Bu Eunseol was in a state where he had simultaneously mastered the most superior Extreme Yin and Extreme Yang martial arts in the world of martial arts. Even if he were to stay inside the steamer for several hours, he would suffer no harm.
‘But those people won’t be able to endure it.’
While uncovering the inner story was good, human lives were more important.
If he left the warriors sleeping in the other steamers alone, they would truly end up like steamed dumplings. He had to save them immediately.
Clatter.
Having made his decision, Bu Eunseol opened the steamer and raised his body.
Flash!
In an instant, a rapid glint of light struck down toward his chest. As if they had prepared for this exact situation, the bearded man standing at the front of the waiting warriors had used a sharp judge’s quill like a swift sword technique to strike his pressure point.
As the sharp judge’s quill bit fiercely into the pressure point, the bearded man withdrew his weapon and spoke in a low voice to the three warriors behind him.
“Did you see that?”
He seemed to be the leader managing the others.
“Not a single drop of blood must be spilled… If anyone happens to wake up, you must accurately suppress their pressure points just as I did. When you strike, do it swiftly without hesitation, but distribute the force evenly. If you only apply strength to the very tip of the judge’s quill, the seal on the bloodway might be broken easily, so…”
As the bearded man continued his explanation, he realized the other warriors were looking past him.
“What on earth are you looking at?”
Frowning, he turned his body to follow their gaze. There, despite having clearly struck the pressure point, stood the man who should have been incapacitated, looking down at him.
“How did you…”
His words didn’t continue.
As Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened, the three warriors, including the bearded leader, all froze as stiffly as stone statues. He had unleashed invisible finger gusts to strike both their paralysis and mute pressure points simultaneously.
“That was a good opinion.”
Bu Eunseol looked down at the fallen leader and spoke.
“But there are many people in the martial world whose bloodways cannot be suppressed… You should make sure the pressure point is properly taken before you turn your back.”
Crackle, shiver!
At that moment, white frost settled on Bu Eunseol’s hair, and the fires in the pits beneath the dozens of steamers were extinguished in an instant. By using the Heavenly Glacial Secret, he had put out the flames beneath the steamers in a heartbeat.
Tremble.
The warriors whose pressure points were suppressed all shook. Since the fires in the pits were fueled by Fire Essence Stones, they would never go out even if ice water were poured on them. Yet, he had extinguished twenty fire pits at once with a single look?
“From now on, I will release your mute pressure points one by one and ask questions,” Bu Eunseol said coldly, looking at the warriors. “If you can answer me, you shall live.”
Bu Eunseol first released the mute pressure point of the bearded man who appeared to be the leader.
“How dare you! Do you have any idea where this is—”
Splat!
However, before he could even finish his sentence, a fountain of blood erupted from his neck.
At the same time, his severed head tumbled across the floor.
Bu Eunseol needed to quickly interrogate these men to uncover the truth of this place. However, as long as their leader glared with wide-open eyes, they would never speak.
To break their momentum and extract information swiftly, he had beheaded the leader in a single strike.
Drip, drip.
As blood poured from the severed neck and soaked their faces, the remaining three martial artists trembled. They were now keenly aware of just how terrifying and ruthless the man before them was.
Bu Eunseol released the acupoints of the martial artist on the far left.
“This place—what exactly is it? And why are you bringing young martial artists here and boiling them alive in steamers?”
His eyes burned crimson, and his voice was endlessly low. He truly resembled a death god manifested in human form.
“T-That is…”
The martial artist stammered in fear.
Slash!
A fountain of blood sprayed out as his head rolled helplessly across the floor.
The two remaining martial artists were once again splattered with fresh blood.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes were now filled with a murderous intent unlike anything seen before.
‘If they can’t answer properly, they die.’
During his journey, he had witnessed countless cruel forces—including those from the Three Realms—experimenting on or brutally killing innocents. He no longer blinked at such things. Yet he had never seen anything as openly cruel and inhumane as boiling living people alive.
He was truly enraged.
Bu Eunseol released the acupoints of the third martial artist.
“Spare me!”
The man shouted desperately and quickly.
“We were only following orders!”
Slash!
In the end, the third martial artist’s head also fell.
“That is not the answer I wanted.”
Bu Eunseol looked down at the last remaining martial artist and spoke.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t speak. I’ll find out everything once I tear this entire place apart anyway.”
He stared intently at the lone survivor.
The martial artist, whose acupoints had been sealed, had eyes swirling with intense emotions. It seemed he was determined to say something.
Once his acupoints were released, the martial artist spoke rapidly.
“It’s the Blood God Heaven!”
An unexpected and shocking name burst out.
Blood God Heaven.
Did that mean this Valley of Immortals was actually a stronghold of one of the Four Divine Heavens—the forces serving the True Demon?
“And the reason we boil them whole is…”
Fearing Bu Eunseol might cut his throat, the man moved his tongue frantically.
Crack.
A gruesome sound rang out as the martial artist’s neck began twisting at an unnatural angle. Even with his acupoints released, some powerful force was snapping his neck.
‘A restriction?’
Bu Eunseol immediately released the man’s acupoints and tried to block the vicious energy spreading through his body. But it was already too late—the man’s neck had been broken in an instant.
“Blood God Heaven…”
Bu Eunseol wore a stunned expression.
The Four Divine Heavens.
Were they not the transcendent beings who stood at the pinnacle of the True Demon’s forces?
In other words, he had willingly walked straight into the tiger’s jaws.
“It’s ready now.”
At that moment, a hoarse voice came from outside the kitchen. There had been no sound of footsteps approaching, and the deep, resonant tone suggested it belonged to an elder with profound martial prowess.
“It seems properly steamed, so it’s time to put the contents inside…”
The elder who entered widened his eyes in shock. The martial artists who should have been inside the steamers were collapsed on the floor, and a young man wearing the robes of Valley of Immortals stood tall before them.
“You are…”
Before the elder could finish speaking, sensing something amiss—
Flash!
A brilliant light erupted.
Having learned this place was connected to the Blood God Heaven, Bu Eunseol abandoned further interrogation. He immediately unleashed his Harmony, erasing the elder’s body without a trace.
Hiss.
Only pale smoke rose from where the elder had stood. Every trace of his existence had completely vanished.
‘If this is the Blood God Heaven, then I’ve entered the tiger’s mouth.’
The force that had gathered young talents under the banner of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars’ martial arts and the name of the purified Three Realms was none other than the Blood God Heaven?
It was a situation he had never even imagined in his dreams.
‘Can I overturn this place alone?’
The men carrying the judge’s quill earlier showed no clear signs of being True Demon forces—no demonic energy or fragments of demon-sealing artifacts. Their skills were too crude even to call them a mysterious sect.
But the elder who just appeared was different. Although Bu Eunseol had dealt with him instantly using harmonization, the man had moved so stealthily that even his super senses could not detect him.
From that alone, he could guess that Valley of Immortals was a mix of ordinary martial artists unaffiliated with the Blood God Heaven and elite ones who belonged to it.
‘Should I retreat like this… or…’
He did not know exactly what they were doing, but the single name “Blood God Heaven” had already revealed more than half the truth. Moreover, if most of the people here were subordinates of the Blood God Heaven—or if the Blood God Heaven Lord himself was present—he had to leave immediately. He still could not face the Heaven Lords of the Divine Heavens with ease.
‘Even if I leave, I must cause as much chaos as possible.’
Bu Eunseol stared at the fifteen steamers lined up in a row and clenched his teeth.
“I cannot leave them like this.”
Escaping this place himself was not an issue. But he could not abandon these young people.
The problem was that their martial prowess was far too weak to escape this place secretly.
‘There’s no choice.’
Having made his decision, he circulated his inner energy. The lids of all the steamers flew open at once, and the young people sleeping inside floated into the air.
His eyes flashed as thirty-six sharp finger strikes instantly pierced their major acupoints. They had been unable to wake because of the spiritual medicine absorbed into their bodies.
He needed to make them rapidly absorb that energy to awaken them.
‘They’re still not waking?’
Even after opening their acupoints to help them absorb the spiritual medicine’s energy, they showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
‘It’s a special technique.’
In all his journeys through the martial world, he had never seen or heard of such a thing.
After a brief moment of thought, Bu Eunseol used the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra to examine their condition.
‘Poison?’
A turbid energy had seeped into their bodies, stagnating the normal flow of their qi and blood.
He tore their flesh to draw blood.
Drip.
Instead of normal blood, a murky fluid flowed out. Some even had bloody foam mixed with phlegm around their mouths.
‘What rendered them unconscious… is a poison that has never been created before.’
Bu Eunseol raised the power of the Poison Saint.
But an unbelievable situation occurred. Even the power of the Poison Saint—which could create any poison and neutralize all poisons—could not detoxify it.
‘Then I’ll try absorbing it.’
He attempted to draw out the poison dominating their bodies, but it was useless.
‘There are symptoms of poisoning, but it cannot be detoxified…’
Bu Eunseol felt a surge of anxiety. The arrival of the elder meant something was already in progress. If he could not wake them soon, they would all die here instead of escaping.
Suddenly, he noticed a sour smell coming from the blood they had shed.
Some substance had altered their blood composition, turning it acidic and spreading throughout their bodies.
‘It’s acid.’
Nothing else could produce such a sour, abnormal odor from bodily fluids.
‘Is there no way to create a poison that can save them…?’
Although he had reached the Poison Saint realm, he did not clearly understand the principles or mechanisms of poison creation. Reaching that realm in the first place had been an accidental result of desperately seeking ways to save poisoned peak experts.
It was a realm attained purely through his earnest desire to protect others.
And now, that pure heart was once again manifesting as a wish to save the young people before him.
Whoong.
A deep, pitch-black light flowed from Bu Eunseol’s body. It was darker than darkness itself, yet it carried a strangely gentle energy.
Martial arts and heart techniques were ultimately nothing more than means to manifest a martial artist’s will. A perfectly pure will was itself a complete law and could exert power stronger than any secret technique.
Flash!
Before long, an even more majestic black light surged from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Poison Power Pure Origin. Nether Poison Dominion.
Poison was the purest and most fundamental power in the world, and its profound strength could govern all domains and boundaries.
Without realizing it, Bu Eunseol was unfolding the deepest and most mysterious principle of the Poison Saint realm.
Shuuu.
In the palm of his hand, a highly refined poison—safe for the human body and capable of neutralizing acid—began to form.
Depending on how it was used, poison could become medicine.
There was a legend that the first Poison Saint was not a poison person, but a medicine saint who sought to save the sick.
And now, Bu Eunseol was taking one step closer to that legendary realm of the Poison Saint.
Hiss.
When he placed the created poison into the drawn blood on his palm, the acid was neutralized. The sour smell vanished, and the blood became clear once more.
Just like the first Poison Saint—the Medicine Saint—Bu Eunseol had finally created a poison that did not harm people, but saved them.
